1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a shared data management method and a shared data management system, and more specifically to an image forming apparatus, a shared data management method and a shared data management system which manages rewritable shared data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the image forming apparatus in which the respective functions of the printer, the copier, the facsimile and the scanner are installed in the same housing has come to be known. Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus of this type will be called the multi-function system.
In the multi-function system, at least four kinds of software respectively corresponding to the printer, the copy, the facsimile and the scanner are provided in addition to the display unit, the printing unit and the imaging unit in the same housing, and one of the printer, the copy, the facsimile and the scanner which is selected from among those kinds of software is operated.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-84383 discloses an example of the image forming apparatus of the above type.
In such a multi-function system, unitary management of the destination address data used as user information with the copy, the scanner, etc., such as the electronic e-mail address and the facsimile number, is carried out.
The user information for which the unitary management is carried out by the multi-function system is suitably updated according to the input commands from the operator who operates the multi-function system. Moreover, the multi-function system is connected to a network device through a network, and the user information is suitably updated according to the input commands from the network device.
Since the user information for which the unitary management is carried out by the multi-function system is updated in response to the requests from one or more operators who operate the multi-function system or the network device, there has been the possibility that the user information is simultaneously updated from two or more operators.
Moreover, when the user information is used by the software corresponding to the copy, the scanner, etc., there has been the possibility that the user information is updated by the operator who operates the multi-function system or the network device.
Furthermore, there has been the possibility that the user information is used by the software corresponding to the copier or scanner function when it is updated by the operator who operates the multi-function system or the network device.
To avoid the problems, the conventional multi-function system carries out the exclusion of an acquisition request of the user information from the software corresponding to the copier or scanner function and the exclusion of an updating request of the user information from another operator when the user information is being updated by one operator.
Moreover, the conventional multi-function system carries out the exclusion of an updating request of the user information from the operator when the user information is being used by the software corresponding to the copier or scanner function.
However, when the exclusion of the updating or acquisition request of the user information is carried out, the conventional multi-function system is placed in a waiting state until the previously received updating or acquisition request of the user information is completed, and re-starts the processing of the updating or acquisition request that is subjected to the exclusion.
Therefore, if the exclusion of the updating or acquisition requests of the user information is repeatedly and continuously carried out, the conventional multi-function system has the problem that it cannot complete the updating or acquisition requests of the user information for a long period of time.
In addition, the conventional multi-function system has the problem that many updating or acquisition requests of the user information are likely to occur and the resources of the multi-function system are wasted vainly when the exclusion of the updating or acquisition requests of the user information is carried out continuously.
Moreover, when the end of the updating of the user information is notified to the conventional multi-function system from the operator who operates the multi-function system or the network device, it will notify the updating end of the user information to all the software that may use the user information.
The software to which the updating end of the user information is notified will perform the read-out request of the user information and the acquisition of the updated user information, if needed.
However, not all the software to which the updating end of the user information is notified is necessarily needed to acquire the updated user information immediately after the updating end. Therefore, it is unnecessary to notify the updating end of the user information to all the software that may use the user information, and the resources of the multi-function system in such a case are wasted vainly. Therefore, the conventional image forming apparatus still has the problem in that the efficiency of the management of the shared data is low.